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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395149">A new purpose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionysus_lover/pseuds/Dionysus_lover'>Dionysus_lover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One shots [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coping, Couch Cuddles, Cunnilingus, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Good Severus Snape, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Healthy Relationships, Light Angst, Love, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Post-War, Ron Weasley Bashing, Scotland, Severus Snape Lives, Spinner's End, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:28:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,447</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395149</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionysus_lover/pseuds/Dionysus_lover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione saves Severus from Nagini's bite and together they find their new purpose for life.<br/>________________________________________________</p><p>Without reasoning she approached him, resting her face on his chest and tightening her arms around his waist. Gods, Severus Snape was the only man who had been able to take care of all his students without ever even getting noticed...<br/>[...]<br/>"I don't... I'm sorry, I'm... I didn't know where to go..." Hermione sobbed on his shirt.</p><p>"It's all right, you're safe now, I promise you" he replied. Then he gently accompanied her inside.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger &amp; Severus Snape, Hermione Granger/Severus Snape</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One shots [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>457</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>"We can't leave him here!" Hermione said, stifling her sobs.</p><p>They had seen too much death and too much pain, she couldn't bear it. Hermione watched Professor Snape bleed on the floor, drown in a pool of poisoned blood and with each tear of him, she died a little. They wouldn't leave him there, it was evident that all the while Severus Snape had done something, secretly, to protect them. The tear he had given Harry had to hide more secrets than they could have imagined.</p><p>"Mione, we can't stay here... We have to find the others" Harry tried to convince her.</p><p>After all, Snape had done horrible things. He had killed Dumbledore.</p><p>"He needs help! He needs... Bezoar, in the bag, quickly!" Hermione implored him. "Please professor, hold on a little longer, please, I beg you...".</p><p>She cried over him as she healed the wound with a spell and forced him to swallow the bezoar to stop the poison. Severus Snape had no intention of surviving and, if he had the strength to rebel, he would have told that silly girl to leave him there, that they had no time to waste, that the Dark Lord should not be underestimated.</p><p>Hermione Granger had always been the most stubborn and determined girl he had ever had in his class, indeed, he had never known in his life. He wouldn't have been strong enough to convince her to let him die.</p><p>"Hermione, we don't have time, we don't have..." Ronald tried to drag her away from the Professor, holding her by the shoulder.</p><p>Sure, the antidote would take effect, or at least she hoped so, but she knew Snape needed immediate treatment.</p><p>"No, no Ron, leave me" she said, but Ron tugged again.</p><p>"Come on Mione, let him go!"</p><p>"No! I won't leave him alone, dammit! He needs help! I'm staying here, staying with him, you call for help! Let me go Ronald, LET ME GO!"</p><p>At that moment Severus Snape understood that perhaps there really was one person, even one, who didn't want his death, at that moment he understood that perhaps it was worth trying to survive.</p><p>At the same time Hermione understood how unjust was that total lack of compassion towards a man whom her friends observed left to die alone, in a pool of blood, forgotten by the world.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Hermione sat down next to the hospital bed in St. Mungo's, and waited. Severus slept, had slept for whole days, recovering his strength. Madame Pomfrey complimented her: if she had intervened even a minute later Severus wouldn't have made it. Hermione had been crying beside the professor's bed.</p><p>The memories he had given Harry before giving himself up to the poison, shown in a man that only she had believed she had seen before. She had never betrayed Severus Snape's memory. Although her trust in him had wavered at the news of Dumbledore's assassination, Hermione understood that there had to be a much larger drawing behind that gesture, when she saw the dying professor on the floor. That man had given everything in an attempt to atone for his guilt, but now he was a free man. No master, no guilt to cure, no remorse to feed. Severus Snape deserved to be a free man.</p><p>Severus slowly opened his eyes. The light always bothered him, he was not used to all that light. His blurred eyes focus on the shadow around him. What...</p><p>"Granger?" Severus asked confused.</p><p>His voice was more hoarse than he remembered, he spoke and it was still difficult and painful. Nagini's bite had its consequences.</p><p>"Oh, professor" she whispered.</p><p>Hermione approached the chair and he saw the tear to the corners of her eyes. She was different, different from how he remembered her. The war had marked everyone. There was no more naivety in her gaze, she was no longer a little silly girl.</p><p>"Please don't talk, professor, it's tiring and Madame Pomfrey says you have to rest. Luckily... Oh Merlin, if I hadn't been quick... I don't want to think about it. Without you, we would have never win."</p><p>Severus widened his eyes. It was over. They had won, Voldemort was dead. Everything was over. He was... free. Hermione nodded.</p><p>"You are the real hero, professor. No, don't look at me like that, you know it's true. Your sacrifice has ensured our victory... If you hadn't... Oh gods, the things you have done for us, for all of us. If only they were here, if only they could... Many died. So many... Remus, Tonks, Fred..."</p><p>Hermione burst into tears, sinking her face into her hands. Severus had been a ruthless man, he had been cold, hard as stone and his soul was lost and damned, but Merlin he couldn't imagine what it meant for the Weasleys to lose a child. Such a young son. And Remus and Tonks, who died young with a newborn son, just like James and Lily. Gods... Miss Granger was sobbing desperately in front of him and he wasn't even able to speak. Not that he knew what to say.</p><p>When Hermione wiped her tears and looked up at Snape again she noticed something that she never expected to see. Snape had his hand open, his palm turned towards her, as if he were willing to offer her comfort. He, he who lay weak on that bed, devoided of strength and voice, he reached out her hand to console her. Hermione smiled and slowly put her hand in his. Severus didn't have the strength to hold her, but that gesture was enough to calm her tears.</p><p>"I'm the one who should comfort you, professor" Hermione replied.</p><p>"Potter?" Severus whispered.</p><p>Potter was just a boy, despite the horrors he had been forced to see, and had to face Voldemort. Yes, he had won, but how did he get out?</p><p>"Harry will be fine" Hermione replied "we will all be fine, with time".<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Hermione and Severus had started talking for the first time in the summer between the fourth and fifth school year. They both spent whole weeks in Grimmaud Place, with the other members of the Order. The days passed with distressing slowness. Hermione suffered from the fact that she couldn't write to Harry, she knew he would be angry with them when they met again.</p><p>Furthermore, the situation was tense at home. Severus was a member of the Order, but that didn't mean he was welcome. Hermione knew the professor's susceptible character, but this didn't justify Sirius, who had no respect for his authority. Hermione didn't like him. She knew that Harry was deeply attached to Padfoot, but that man was so immature, so consumed with hatred for all the years spent in Azkaban, so morbidly attached to Lupin and unable to accept that the time had come to put aside the ancients grudges.</p><p>Often Hermione would hide in the small library of the house, sit on the windowsill and get lost in the books, while the light of day caressed her skin. Those were the only moments of peace she could live. Part of her was not surprised when, one of those afternoons, she met professor Snape in the library. He had sat in the armchair by the window, was already reading and had not looked up from his dusty pages.</p><p>"Miss Granger, I'm not going to pollute my reading with unnecessary circumstantial conversations, so if you don't mind too much, take your book and avoid ruining my afternoon more than Black has already done" he said, with his usual intense, deep and dark voice.</p><p>Hermione had nodded without saying anything, had taken her book and started reading, or at last she had tried. The professor's profile distracted her. His elegance, his composure, the grace with which he gently turned the pages of the book. She hated that Black was unable to understand how respectable, intelligent and dedicated Snape was. Despite his bitterness, Severus Snape had never missed an opportunity to protect his students and to commit them to be always safe and prepared in their studies. He was a strict and meticulous man, but there was no doubt that his students were the best in potions that Hogwarts had ever seen.</p><p>Hermione closed the book. "For what it's worth, sir, I think that you, before considering Padfoot's comments, should remind him that he hasn't shaved his beard and combed his hair since he came back from Azkaban" she said.</p><p>Severus didn't answer, didn't look at her, didn't do anything, but Hermione noticed, with the corner of her eye, his pleased smirk.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>"Why do you keep visiting him? Why?! This is where we need you, together with us! Together with me!" Ronald screamed and Hermione was crying, but had no intention of giving up.</p><p>"I am here! I am always here, I have always been there, I have never run away from my responsibilities, unlike you! Professor Snape is alone! You have your family, your brothers, Harry! Who has him? Nobody! He doesn't have a family! I won't leave him alone after all he's done for us! I won't be frightened by the prejudices you had about him!"</p><p>It was true that she always spent time with Severus. Every day since the war was over. Ron didn't understand, their relationship was crumbling even before it started. Harry said nothing, not to Hermione, but tried to make Ron think before their friendship died forever. The war continued to reap its victims, despite it being over.</p><p>By the time Hermione arrived at St Mungo's Severus was already waiting for her, although he would never have admitted it. For three weeks she had not stopped visiting him and initially, since Severus couldn't speak except with great effort, Hermione thought it was a good idea to avoid unnecessary conversations of circumstance and devote herself to reading. She never thought that Severus Snape could appreciate "Three men in a boat". It was the only Muggle novel that didn't talk about love that she had brought with her.</p><p>Hermione sat down next to the professor, smiling shyly. That man had changed. He was always the grumpy professor of potions, always elegant, precise and discreet even on a hospital bed, but every day a little light returned in his dark eyes, as if he was finally clinging to life again. From time to time she had also seen him smile, looking up from the book. This was a man who, because of injustice, had known solitude too well and Hermione was convinced that, despite his apparent coldness, he was grateful for that company.</p><p>"So, Professor, which chapter did I stop at last time?" Hermione asked, but Severus immediately noticed that her eyes were still red and swollen with tears.</p><p>Miss Granger was no longer the fiery lioness she had been during school years, those years when she hadn't been afraid of anything, not even breaking the rules.</p><p>"I suppose Mr. Weasley has again reminded you of how unseemly your daily visits to my hospital bed are" Severus replied.</p><p>Hermione sighed and nodded, without looking up from the book, wiping her tears with a sleeve of her sweatshirt.</p><p>"Miss Granger, I would normally say that you are an unbearable stubborn, but recent events convince me that this book is not exactly the reason why you come so often to visit me. Especially because you are anything, but unbearable."</p><p>Hermione finally smiled. It was the first almost compliment that someone had given her for a long, long time. More than she could remember.</p><p>"However, although I hate with all that is left of my soul Mr. Weasley's crude behaviors, I can't blame him. You should be with your friends, with your family" he added.</p><p>Her eyes began to fill with tears again. "I don't... My parents... I couldn't endanger them in any way. They can't remember me anymore..."</p><p>Hermione whispered in tears, but she was tired of crying, tired of being told what was right and what was wrong. Damn they had almost risked dying, every day, for months and now, after all the sacrifices, there still were those who wanted to say to her what was right and what was wrong.</p><p>"I won't be here to be scolded for my choices. I am a woman. I fought a war, I was tortured, I was the second choice of the boy that I believe, or at least I believed, to love, I was abandoned, I gave up my family! I know what it means to be suddenly alone in the world. And no, I don't think there's anything wrong with visiting you, sir. I know that nobody but me came to visit you. After all you've done for us, nobody... "</p><p>"I refuse your pity!"</p><p>"It's not pity! Damn it! I care about you, professor, and you know it! You know it! Don't send me away, allow me to be... Allow me to keep you company, at least until you feel well."</p><p>Severus sighed. There was still fire inside her. He couldn't have accepted to see her slowly turn off. Not after all she had done for him. Good Merlin, she had saved his life! Despite everything, she hadn't wanted to let him die alone. It was a fearful thought, that of being saved, the thought that someone really wanted him to live, until the end, that he struggled to live. Above all, it was frightening that all this came from Miss Granger, no longer so little girl, but more and more woman.</p><p>"Fine. Please, Miss Granger, start reading again from page one hundred twenty one" Severus replied without adding anything else.</p><p>His eyes as dark as night were enough to reassure Hermione. He understood and accepted her.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>At Grimmaud Place Hermione and Severus had adopted the silent habit of meeting in the small sitting room every afternoon. They hardly ever spoke. They always read in silence. Hermione had left the window sill and preferred to sit in the armchair opposite the professor's. Occasionally, she looked at him. Severus never raised his eyes from the book, often and willingly pretended not to notice her looks. Miss Granger was just a curious girl.</p><p>He had once offered her a cup of tea. Or rather, he had prepared tea and had taken care to take a cup for her too, knowing that he would see her. "Help yourself" he had only said. Hermione had decided that this was the exact moment when their strange friendship was born.</p><p>On the last afternoon at Grimmaud Place Hermione was uneasy. She knew she would see the professor at Hogwarts again, but things weren't going to be the same, she knew that too. Everything was about to change. By now she knew that the war was coming and it was only a matter of time. They wouldn't have been able to stop Voldemort's advance, not with their own force. Hermione was afraid. When Severus got up from his chair, putting the book for the last time on the shelf and then turning to the door, her voice stopped him.</p><p>"Some of us may die..." Hermione whispered.</p><p>Severus looked at her, perhaps he really looked at her for the first time in his life and saw the eyes of a young girl whose world was about to fall apart. He too had been young in such a distant time.  He had been young and frightened by the death of his loved one, so much so that he had found the courage and strength to give up the darkness he had followed.</p><p>"No, Miss Granger. Some will surely die. Children will die and parents will survive. Parents will die and there will be new orphans. But. It is not death that scares you. Isn't that so? Oh, young Gryffindor, you do not lack courage, you don't know what fear is because you are blind and reckless, however... What frightens you is not knowing why. Why you have to die. So I ask you, why do you have to live?".</p><p>"Why do we have to live?! Well to fight, of course!"</p><p>"Fight, yes, but for what? What do you want to achieve? What is the purpose? Listen to me, once and for all, Miss Granger: it is more honorable to die in the name of a real purpose, than to live a hundred years aimlessly, without motivation. Yes, they will die, but they will not have died without a name, forgotten in the oblivion of this world."</p><p>"And who will survive? What will they do, those who will have to live? Because it's the living ones that we must pity, not the dead ones."</p><p>"Whoever lives will find a new purpose to survive."</p><p>Severus had stretched his wand towards the shelves and a new volume had floated towards her, resting on her legs. The title was "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli.</p><p>"The end justifies the means, Miss Granger" Severus had added at the end, just before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.</p><p>Hermione was left with that book, stroking the cover, and the thought of the professor who, again and unknowingly for the umpteenth time had taken care of one of his students, making her feel less alone. Goosebumps crossed her skin as professor Snape's silky voice echoed in her mind and the word reigned on her lips, that would give her the strength to resist, until the end: a purpose.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Eventually Severus had been discharged from the hospital after a month of recovery. Hermione had stayed at the Burrow, along with Harry, Ron and the other Weasleys, where they had decided to spend the summer. Harry would not return to Hogwarts and Ron hadn't missed the opportunity to follow his partner and also give up on finishing his studies. Hermione had no intention of leaving her education incomplete.</p><p>She and Ron often disagreed, more and more often and on more and more topics. First of all, Severus Snape. None of the Weasleys had visited him. Neither Molly nor Arthur. Harry had gone to see him once and hadn't known what to say. It had been strange. Nobody really understood the reason for Hermione's visits, maybe nobody ever even tried to do it.</p><p>When Severus had been released he had written only one letter, a short telegram that the hospital had taken care to send with an owl. The professor's perfect handwriting read:</p><p>From: Severus Snape, Spinner's Ends, England<br/>To: Miss Hermione Jean Granger, the Burrow</p><p>Miss Granger,<br/>Thank you for your frequent visits this month. I wish you, Mr. Potter and the Weasley family a peaceful summer, in which to regain strength and serenity. My condolences to George, Molly, Arthur and their children for the painful loss of Fred Weasley.</p><p>Severus Snape</p><p>Hermione had smiled, bringing the letter to the heart. It seemed such a stupid and childish gesture, but she was so happy that he had taken the trouble to write her a letter, albeit a short one.</p><p>Despite the absence of visits and the solitude with which he had faced his convalescence, Snape was careful to greet the Weasley family and to offer his condolences. A gesture that once again demonstrated his education, his subtle sensitivity and his elegance. Severus Snape was a respectable man. More than respectable, lovable.</p><p>Yet when Hermione looked up from the letter, she noticed how many eyes were looking at her with bewilderment and amazement. Harry was genuinely surprised, Ginny had tilted her forehead a little amused by the reaction of her friend and Ron... Ronald looked at her frowning, as if that letter was something disgusting, something to be ashamed of.</p><p>"Ron, read. Severus is a good man. He offers his condolences..."</p><p>"Condolences?! Snape is a criminal! And since when do you call him by first name?! Do I have to remind you how many times he called you a know-it-all?"</p><p>"Oh good Merlin! When will you learn to grow? This man is almost dead to save all of us's lives!"<br/>Hermione had gone mad.</p><p>Harry had kept Ron from following her. Harry had never made friends with the professor, but at least he recognized his worth. Ron was unable to notice anything beyond his nose. Hermione had tried, constantly tried to make things work between them, but he didn't move a single step towards her. She had lay down on the grass, on a hill near the Burrow and had looked at the sky for a while, with the professor's letters resting on her heart, wondering why it beated so hard in the silence of the countryside.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Hermione wasn't sure how it happened. She was about to fall asleep, Severus' letter kept in the pages of "The Prince", that book she had never left, resting on the floor next to her bed. The candle was dying and her tired eyes were drifting off to sleep. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs had awakened her.</p><p>Ron's heavy breathing had been perfectly recognizable, even when the candle had gone out. His sweaty hands and flabby belly had crushed her in an instant, his moist and uncoordinated mouth had begun to kiss her without even worrying about knowing if she was awake and willing. His fingers had tightened her hips until they hurt, then slipped dangerously up her chest.</p><p>Hermione had pushed him away. She had started to cry, but she hadn't wanted to wake up anyone or ask anyone for help. Nobody would have understood it. She and Ron had kissed more than once, he took her by the hand, he hugged her. He did all these things and she let him do it because she believed she had no other choice after that war. There was nothing left.</p><p>Hermione had got up, Ron had fallen on the bed and she, without thinking about it, had grabbed the few things she had with her and had run away. She cried silently not to be heard as she ran out of the house.</p><p>As soon as she crossed the threshold she did not stop. Hermione continued to run, her feet bare on the ground, her tousled hair and her eyes full of tears, her teeth chattering and her hands trembling. She just wanted to go away and forget, forget everything. When she stopped, she was out of breath and her legs hurt. The Burrow was long gone, a dot in the night. Hermione was tired, sad, scared and didn't know where to go. She didn't even bother to take a pair of clean shoes from her magical bag: when she started to put the book away, she thought that there was only one person in the world who, after the war, had taken the trouble to really listen to her. There was only one person who had seen who Hermione really was: a young woman, who had fought to the last of her forces, who had touched death too many times, who had not yet found a way to come to terms with the loss of the people she loved and who, more than anything else, needed some comfort. Without thinking twice Hermione dematerialized.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>It was almost midnight and Severus was unable to sleep, as usual. Nightmares kept him awake often, always. Nagini met him in his darkest dreams, he saw its jaws open wide in front of him, swallow him by the legs, while he was unable to move and react. Then Severus preferred not to sleep, to continue reading in his living room until he found himself exhausted and his eyes asked for mercy. The things he had done, the things he had seen, without being able to react... For too long his destiny had been in the hands of two different masters and now that he had been given freedom, he did not know what to do with it.</p><p>He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was about to resume reading, in an attempt to forget those inauspicious thoughts, when he heard a knock on the door. He was afraid. He firmly grasped his wand and walked slowly towards the front door. The corridor was dark, behind the door he saw only a dark figure who knocked again, this time a little louder. Only when he was close enough to the doorway Severus noticed the strangled sobs that came from the street. He opened the door.</p><p>"Miss Granger?" he whispered, more than surprised. Why was she there? At that hour... Something must have happened. "Potter? Weasley?!" he asked, worried that someone had hurt them, but she shook her head.</p><p>She didn't stop crying, as if she had been lost.<br/>As if she had no other place to go. Hermione was exhausted, shaken and desperate. At that moment that man was the only person in the world capable of making her feel safe. Without reasoning she approached him, resting her face on his chest and tightening her arms around his waist. Gods, Severus Snape was the only man who had been able to take care of all his students without ever even getting noticed... There was no man more considerate than him, Hermione was convinced of it.</p><p>Severus, for a moment, was taken aback, but Hermione was crying, sobbing without catching her breath. Her breathing on the beating of his heart made him feel a little more alive and he returned the embrace, hugged her tightly, sinking one hand between her golden curls and the other on her waist, without suffocating her, but enough to make her feel safe. It was there that he realized she was barefoot, dirty and sweaty. Severus had no idea what had happened, but his heart tightened at the thought that she was still suffering so much, so much so as not to even worry about wearing a pair of shoes to run away, away from thoughts.</p><p>"I don't... I'm sorry, I'm... I didn't know where to go..." Hermione sobbed on his shirt.</p><p>"It's all right, you're safe now, I promise you" he replied. Then he gently accompanied her inside.</p><p>His Spinner's End house had only two bedrooms, what had been his parents' room and the one he grew up in. The room he slept in was the only one that had a decent bathroom. "Come with me," he said and, taking her by the hand, accompanied her up the stairs.</p><p>He ushered her into his room. Hermione wasn't afraid to enter, she didn't feel threatened or in danger. Whenever Ron tried to push her into a bedroom, she trembled like a leaf, but Severus would never try to push her beyond her limit, Hermione trusted him. In fact, Severus opened another door and showed her the bathroom.</p><p>"You can wash yourself here. I will leave you some clean clothes on the bed. I will be downstairs, in the living room, making hot tea. When you want to, join me and explain everything that has happened, okay?" he explained and she nodded.</p><p>Before Severus could leave the room Hermione stopped him, looking up tiredly, she looked at him and whispered: "Thanks". Severus smiled.</p><p>Half an hour later Severus and Hermione were in the drawing room at the entrance. He had contemplated the idea of making hot tea, but the situation required something stronger. A glass of whiskey seemed more appropriate. Hermione was curled up in his armchair. Despite being late June, there in Cokeworth the summer never seemed to come. It had started to rain outside and Severus had lit the fire to prevent that old house from getting too wet. She was sitting by the fireplace, he had taken the desk chair. The black T-shirt that he had left her, covered her to the knees, the clean socks she had worn covered the rest of her leg. She took another sip of whiskey, too.</p><p>"Thanks."</p><p>"No need to thank, plus you've already said it before. Anyway... Do you want to explain to me what happened?"</p><p>Hermione sighed and shook her head.<br/>"I... I don't know. I'm not sure. Ron has always been... I thought it was already decided, I thought we were meant for that. Then the war came, Harry found Ginny and they are so in love... They are already planning to get married. Then there are Bill and Fleur, Neville and Luna and I... I thought I had to do it, I thought it was him, but it's not. It's not him, he's never been, he will never be. He never grew up, he never even tried, he demands, he always demands everything from everyone, as if everything was due and granted to him, but it is not like that!"</p><p>Severus felt a blaze of anger, he had the distinct feeling that git of Mr. Weasley had tried to touch Miss Granger without her consent and the fear that this had happened made him want to grab his wand, reach the Burrow and to pronounce the avada curse for the second time.</p><p>"Has Mr. Weasley had inappropriate provocative attitudes towards you, perhaps without your... consent?" he asked, and for the first time in months his voice went back to being the hiss that had scared his students for years.</p><p>Hermione nodded.<br/>"I ran away before the situation deteriorated. I thought it was him... It was the biggest mistake I made."</p><p>"You thought he was, exactly what?"</p><p>Hermione looked up at Severus. His dark eyes were filled with that golden light that came from the flames of his fireplace. His hair wasn't dirty, but it was voluminous and unkempt as she had never seen it, the shirt with the sleeves raised up to the elbows was wrinkled. He looked extremely young. Not that he was old, he was not yet forty years old. The concern in his eyes, the kind and thoughtful way in which he had welcomed her, the help he had offered her without her having to ask for anything... For the first time since the end of the war, Hermione felt she was truly safe, at home. She smiled.</p><p>"My new purpose" she replied.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Hermione had woken up in a bed that smelled of Marseille soap, pine wood and wild herbs. It was comfortable, warm and large. She opened her eyes wide. She didn't remember going to bed, on the contrary, she only remembered the armchair, the whiskey and the fireplace. She must have fallen asleep there and Severus had brought her there, put her to bed, covered her and left her to sleep, warm and safe. Severus had looked after her. Hermione took clean clothes from the enchanted bag and changed.</p><p>Severus had spent the night thinking, sitting on the armchair that now smelled of her. Hermione was a young, splendid woman: despite the fear she must have felt, the sense of loneliness and abandonment, despite everything, she hadn't hesitated to take her things and go away. Without shoes, without a precise place to reach, without certainties, she hadn't been afraid to ask for help. Severus wanted to take care of her, to help her heal in the same way she had helped him. Yes, Hermione Granger was the only friend he had in that world and gods, how beautiful she was. Brave and strong, intelligent and delightfully pretty.</p><p>The last thing he wanted was to let her go back to Ronald Bilius Weasley, but he knew he couldn't force choices on her. She had to be free. Certainly he would always be there for her. On the other hand, he couldn't think of asking her to spend the summer there, in his home in Spinner's End, the most depressing place in England. She deserved to be serene and, over time, to recover all her joy and all her brightness, but he would never have forced her to do something that she didn't want.</p><p>With these thoughts, Severus heard her come down the stairs and open the door to the living room. Hermione saw Severus come out of what was supposed to be the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee and dark eyes fixed on her, studying her as if he wanted to make sure she was still whole. Gods, Severus Snape was by no means the bigoted professor she remembered seeing at Hogwarts. The man in front of her was imposing, but not severe, he was slender, but not as thin and pale as she remembered him. His arms were strong, the soft lines of nervous muscles marked his black shirt. His hair was still unkempt, his lips had an intense color. Why was she looking at his lips? Hermione shook her head and smiled.</p><p>"Did you sleep well?" Severus asked, leaning on the door jamb with one shoulder, slightly tilting his pelvis.</p><p>"Yes, thank you" Hermione replied. Severus pointed to the armchair to invite her to sit down.</p><p>"Coffee? Tea?" he asked.</p><p>"I'll have a coffee. I hope I'm not too much trouble."</p><p>Severus returned from the kitchen with breakfast for her. "Granger, you will never be too much trouble. On the contrary, I would like to know what plans you have now."</p><p>Hermione shrugged, biting into a piece of toast with butter and taking a sip of black coffee. "Frankly I have no idea... I don't want to go back to the Weasleys. If I could I would like to go back to Hogwarts already now."</p><p>Severus nodded silently. He got up and walked to the desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a letter. He handed the letter to Hermione.</p><p>"What is that?" she asked.</p><p>"My legacy."</p><p>Hermione opened the letter and immediately noticed the sender. "Aberforth?"</p><p>"Albus. Yes, the letter was written to me by Aberforth after the last battle, but the house was owned by Dumbledore. It is a cottage in Scotland, on private land in the Aberdeen countryside. I know it has a potions lab, for this Dumbledore thought it convenient that, in the unforeseeable event of my survival, it was my property. I intended to leave as soon as possible and spend at least the rest of the summer there, to devote myself to some... research."</p><p>Severus stopped for a moment, taking a sip of coffee and studying the girl's expression in front of him. He was not used to sharing, still less used to asking. He couldn't believe he was going to do what he was going to do, but in Hermione's eyes there was a happy light, a spark of joy that he hadn't seen for a long time.</p><p>"Would you be very sorry to be an assistant during this period? But I warn you, before answering. I am a strict, meticulous, demanding master, I have no times, I sleep little and I eat quickly, I don't like conversations of circumstance nor the small talk to vain, and above all I have no intention of talking about the night in which... what I did, last year."</p><p>Hermione smiled. "When are we going to leave, Master Snape?"</p><p>Severus put down the cup. "Now, Miss Granger."<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>Hermione had barely had time to write a short message to Harry to inform him of her new engagement. Her bag was already full of everything she would need. Severus took care of cleaning and tidying the kitchen, filling a small suitcase with the essentials and closing the front door from the inside. Then he held out his arm to Hermione.</p><p>"Ready?" he asked gently. Hermione smiled and nodded. They dematerialized.</p><p>The cottage, from afar, was a small house made of stone and wood, with a rustic roof covered with warm and golden straw under the warm Scottish sun. Around it, the countryside was rich and flourishing, a few kilometers from the ocean. The air was fresh and fragrant. Hermione felt free for a moment.The interior of the cottage was even more welcoming. On the first floor there was a sitting room with two sofas around a large dark stone fireplace. The ceiling was crossed by powerful wooden beams, the sofas were made in soft and light fabric, the kitchen next door was small but functional, just like the bathroom. On the mezzanine, just below the roof, there was a large bed with woolen blankets and pillows of all sizes and colors. A small room, next to the kitchen, served as a laboratory. It was all there, at their disposal, all summer.</p><p>The first night was the most difficult. Hermione had proposed to sleep on the sofa and leave the bed to Severus, who needed to rest. After all, he had been all too kind to her. Hermione had stretched out on the sofa under a blanket and tried to sleep. She had really tried, but the nightmares had been faster than her sleep. The memories had been more painful than the tears choking in her throat.</p><p>Severus had not been able to leave her there, he knew what she was going through. He refused to sleep to avoid nightmares, but in the same way he didn't want to take potions and drug his mind to deal with the pain. That wasn't the right way to overcome it. He sat on the sofa and squeezed her hand, stroking her palm with the tips of his fingers.</p><p>"I'm here, always" he said, only that.</p><p>Hermione had nodded and slowly stopped crying, aware that she wasn't alone. They were not alone, they were together.</p><p>The days passed with initial slowness. Sometimes the sun never seemed to want to set, and after spending a long time collecting ingredients and potions, they spent the rest of their time sitting reading, exchanging a few smiles and drinking tea in front of the fireplace together. Joy was delicate and struggling to return, but peace had soon entered their hearts. Life in the Scottish countryside was peaceful and it was healing their wounds, but it wasn't enough. Hermione was in desperate need to speak.</p><p>"When we started looking for the Horcruxes we had no idea where to go, or what to do" she began to tell an afternoon, without him asking her anything. Hermione stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace and Severus knew that she only needed to be heard. He was not a boy frightened by the consequences of life and war, he was a man who for years had come to terms with the painful choices he had to make. He would listen to her without prejudice. "The medallion was the worst, perhaps also because we had to get it from that damned Umbridge bastard. That damned toad..."</p><p>Severus smiled amused.</p><p>"We have been wandering in the woods for so long... Ron wore the medallion around his neck and his mood became gloomy, aggressive. He started to be jealous of Harry, possessive towards me. Maybe I should have noticed that love is not like that, love is not an obsession."</p><p>Oh Severus knew all about love and obsession. The need to atone for the blame for Lily's death had plagued him all his life. Now that it was all over and he unexpectedly survived, he wasn't sure if he ever knew love in his life. Certainly no one had ever returned feelings for him.</p><p>"Ron returned, following the fluctuating light, as he called it. I was furious. Yeah, not at all enthusiastic, contrary to what Harry expected. Ronald had abandoned us, in the middle of nowhere, because he was jealous of a friendship that had tied us for years! I should have known immediately that I was chasing the wrong goal..."</p><p>"Granger, we all make mistakes. Some more irreparable than others, as I can demonstrate, but as you will want to reply now, it is not the errors that define who we are, but what we do to remedy them. You have been very brave to abandon your toxic relationship with Mr. Weasley. Don't be ashamed to have taken the time to dedicate yourself to your health, but be proud of the choices you have made."</p><p>"Snape, you are the bravest wizard in the world. Currently perhaps, even the most powerful... Well after Harry, unfortunately."<br/>Sevrus snorted and Hermione laughed. "You don't have to be ashamed either..." she concluded.</p><p>Her golden eyes fell on the black mark on Severus' arm. Instinctively he covered himself with the other hand. Hermione blushed in embarrassment, looked down and unfastened the cuff of her shirt. She rolled up her sleeve until she discovered the gift left by Madame Lestrange.</p><p>"Everyone has their scars" Hermione whispered.</p><p>They always spoke, from that day on, but without ever mentioning the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Severus knew he had been forced, that he had no choice, and was relieved to have spared the soul of an innocent boy, as he had once been, but his soul was damned for that. There was no forgiveness for what he had done. He couldn't help but think often of all those who, along with Dumbledore, had died with a purpose.</p><p>"I often think of Lupin" Severus had confided to Hermione "and his young wife. How they died... Their only son is panting to meet a destiny, I dare say, familiar. With the only difference that he, hopefully, will never know the war. It pains me to know that they died together, like..."</p><p>Lily and James. Hermione knew it. It was strange how she felt at the thought of that name: Lily. Why did she suddenly feel jealous of a woman with whom she had never shared anything? She looked at Severus and suddenly wondered if there was something in her, even the smallest thing, that made her look as wonderful and valiant in his eyes as she was. No, she wasn't Lily. She had no long, silky red hair, bright green eyes, a gentle demeanor. She was full of ink stains and book dust. She had frizzy hair and too wide teeth. Hermione sighed. It must have been nice to feel loved, even if she had no idea what it meant.<br/>_________________________________________________</p><p>At the end of July Hermione was hopelessly, desperately in love with Severus Snape. She watched him work on his potions, listened to him as he taught her everything she needed to know to make up for the last school year. He was caring, patient and sweet. Yes, sweet. The way he always worried about making sure she was okay, that she had her favorite books to read, the way he took care of dinner and making her tea without her having to ask. Moreover, Severus Snape was damned charming: his pungent intelligence, his sarcasm, his deep and intense voice... Everything about him made her pleasantly tremble.</p><p>Towards the end of July Severus Snape was beginning to find it really difficult to have Hermione close by, without being able to touch her, hold her close, caress and kiss her. She was all he wanted. Oh, life at the cottage was perfect, just what they needed: a quiet, peaceful and safe place to spend the summer to heal the wounds. It was becoming, however, something Snape hadn't foreseen. Hermione Granger was an extraordinary woman. She was simple, but not trivial, clever, but not presumptuous, sweet and dreamy, but not naive and unwary. She was a lioness, surrounded by the curly hair that he hoped to find in the pillow next to him every morning. How many times would he have wanted to let go of the cauldron and the potions, take Hermione and kiss her until she lost track of time and space, until he made her head spin around and made her heart burn with passion. Gods, how beautiful she was. None of everything he could ever expect to love. Yet he was convinced that the heart couldn't lie to him.</p><p>One of those afternoons Hermione had insisted on reading outside, on the lawn around the cottage, in the shade of a tree with huge branches. Around them there was only light and silence. The sun would set late. They had lain down on a large blanket lying on the lawn. Severus was reading lying on his back, his head raised on a pillow and an arm behind it. Hermione was lying prone beside him, rising on her elbows and leafing through the pages of a book she had read a lot of times.</p><p>Between the pages of the book Hermione read a phrase she had forgotten about. She sighed. Severus looked up at her. She looked at him and, for a moment, she drowned in his eyes as black as the depths of the ocean. Then she smiled.</p><p>"Everyone sees what you look like, few feel what you really are" Hermione whispered.</p><p>In that sentence she tried to enclose every feeling of love that she felt for him. She didn't expect Severus to fully understand... With that sentence Hermione showed him how wonderful the man she had known was, how much goodness there was actually in his broken soul. Severus widened his eyes in amazement, and without any word to answer. This splendid, magnificent young woman offered him all that understanding and affection without asking for anything in return, and he was hopelessly infatuated with her.</p><p>Then, suddenly, he remembered where that phrase came from. "The Prince? After all this time?" he asked.</p><p>She smiled. Her delicate hand landed on his cheek, slowly, stroking his ivory skin. Gods, his face was that of a prince. Hermione blushed a little, gently biting her lip as Severus' hand reached hers. It was the first time she had touched him that way. That simple, but intense gesture, gentle, but full of passion and intensity. Her skin, slightly tanned by the sun, was warm and seemed to bring him back to life whenever her thumb stroked his cheek slowly. Severus put his palm on Hermione's hand, stroked her wrist and held it there, even as he turned his face to rest the shadow of a kiss on her thumb. Hermione shivered. She knew it was there and at that time, or never again. She was a Gryffindor, she wasn't afraid of anything except losing him.</p><p>"Always" she whispered.</p><p>Hermione didn't give him any more time to think about what they had just said. She lowered herself on him, no longer afraid, and placed her trembling lips on his. The world and time stopped in that instant, the exact moment when Severus realized that it was real, that Hermione was kissing him, that those lips were touching his with infinite kindness, that she was not afraid, no more, but that perhaps both were ready to be happy again.</p><p>That first kiss was chaste, pure, light as air. It seemed to last an eternity and instead Severus realized that he didn't have time to reciprocate, that Hermione was already separating from him. No, he wouldn't allow it.</p><p>Damn, he had made so many bad decisions in his life and for so long his fate had not belonged to him, that now he had no intention of throwing away any more precious time being afraid of the consequences. Severus reached out both hands to grab her. One went to rest on her face, the other encircled her soft hips so as not to push her away. They exchanged a look, less than a second, then Severus drew her back to him and Hermione offered no resistance.</p><p>The kiss was nothing of what they had ever shared before. Hermione let her lips open like petals of a rose, his tongue immediately sought hers. Severus knew how to kiss. His greedy mouth burned hers, his skillful tongue caressed her rosy lips, his teeth scratched and bitten her gently, only to ignite new sparks of lust inside her. Hermione's soul was on fire, only Severus could have put out that fire that he himself had started.</p><p>His hands caressed her, glided gently over her whole body, among her voluminous curls, on her delightful hips, on her bare arms, on the folds of the skirt of her light summer dress. Hermione moaned softly with each kiss and with each caress, and Severus died and was reborn with each of those sounds. Hermione rolled over on him, her small body covering his, while her skirt was raised, uncovering part of her young thighs and letting the warmth of her sex, covered in a simple pair of cotton panties, ignite his aroused groin.</p><p>Severus was only a man, a man who desperately wanted her. He broke the kiss and looked at her. He had to be sure, he had to be sure that it wasn't all a dream, a joke, an illusion. Her hazel eyes were smiling for the first time in a long time and were full of life and desire. Severus filled his soul with that marvelous vision, before feeling Hermione slip on him, rub her small, clothed pussy on his marble erection; Severus closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and growled. Gods, what an erotic sound. Hermione's cheeks flushed violently, not out of embarrassment, but out of desire.</p><p>"Please, Severus..." she whispered, tilting her face towards him and kissing the sensitive scar on his neck, without disgust or fear, longing for him as he was. That was the breaking point.</p><p>Severus rolled Hermione on her back, stroking her hair, kissing her everywhere, sliding his tongue over her delicate neck and biting her from time to time, leaving the signs of their love on her white skin. Hermione ran her fingers through his raven hair, finding them more silky than she could have imagined, and indulged in that intense and passionate pleasure he was giving her.</p><p>"I have wanted you for so long..." Severus began to confess with every kiss, with every bite "you, who arrived there with your disheveled hair and your books... Oh gods, you are so fucking beautiful! You, who you read for me, every damn day and I was waiting for you, Merlin how was I waiting for you. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you! Let me have you, please, I'll take care of you, please... Hermione" he pleaded and she smiled nodding.</p><p>"Severus, oh Severus... I'm yours."</p><p>He wasted no more time. Snape grabbed his wand and ran it between them, whispering a spell. Their clothes fell forgotten on the blanket, while they finally savored the sensation of being skin against skin, one body wrapped around the other, their melted heat as if they were the same thing. Yes, they were there, under a tree, outdoors in the middle of the countryside, in the silence of that sunny day and their moans of pleasure, their wet kisses and their caresses echoed in the air, but in that perfect moment they were the only existing thing.</p><p>Severus slowly slipped a hand over her breast, and listened to the accelerated beat of Hermione's heart. She smiled, closed her eyes and nodded. Yes, he could touch her, kiss her, he could have everything of her, she would belong to him without fear, without pain, without remorse.</p><p>"I trust you, you can have me, I want you" she whispered, looking at him one last time.</p><p>Severus hid the tears of joy that were about to fill his eyes by starting to kiss her again. His mouth rubbed her lips, slid down her jaw, gently bit the lobe of her ear, listening to her moans of pleasure, how much she was drowned in desire and lust. His tongue drew infinite lines until it reached her breast. His lips closed around the turgid nipples of her soft breasts, sweet as freshly ripe cherries, and Severus sucked them and bit them gently. Hermione moaned, repeated his name like a prayer and asked for more, much more, she wanted everything. Severus never stopped: after slowly savoring her tits, after making her tremble with his caresses and kisses on the delicate skin, after gently squeezing her breasts in the palm of his hands, he began to descend again.</p><p>His mouth kissed her abdomen, the ghost of his lips slipped on her hips, followed by his delicate but expert fingers, until he reached her thighs. Hermione didn't exist to open her legs in front of him, to show him the perfect flower between them, already wet and ready to welcome his fingers and his tongue, to make him quench his thirst with her delicious nectar. Her pink and tight pussy was the paradise where Severus wanted to live the rest of his days. There was no scar on her body that made her look less beautiful than she really was in his eyes. There was no more splendid creature.</p><p>"Look at me" Severus whispered and waited for Hermione to open her bright eyes for him.</p><p>Severus, without ever lowering his gaze, slid the tip of his finger along the wet lips of her pussy, then brought it to his mouth and sucked, savoring it.</p><p>"You are... So delicious. Would you like it if I licked you? If I let you cum on my mouth? On my tongue? Maybe on my... fingers?" Severus asked with a smirked grin as he penetrated Hermione gently with his finger, reaching the most sensitive point inside her, watching her as an expression of pure pleasure was born on her face.</p><p>Hermione said nothing: she just nodded, begging him to continue again, while her head fell on the pillow again and her hand stroked his dark hair. She focused only on him, on what he was giving her, on the deep pleasure inside her, Severus' finger curled gently on her G-spot, stimulating her intensely, with a constant rhythm. His tongue which immediately found her sensitive clitoris, twirled around that knot of nerves, pressing on it with the right pressure, letting his lips take her to the edge of the climax. At the first spasm of her pussy, so tight, hot and wet inside, Severus was unable to hold back the moan of pleasure. The vibration of his lips was the last thing she needed to reach her orgasm, to explode with pleasure and her moans turned into a cry of pure joy and passion. It was like hearing thousands of fireworks light up in her soul, Hermione was convinced that she had never tried anything like this. Severus smiled at her, slowly lifting his face, waiting for her to look at him.</p><p>Snape was a wicked man and had no intention of hiding it from her. What pleasure he had felt in having her there, in his hands, in his mouth, at his disposal! Gods, it had been perfect.</p><p>To his surprise, Hermione opened her eyes, rose abruptly to him and pulled him towards her, for a passionate kiss. There was something erotic and sinful about tasting herself on his tongue, but Hermione was dying to kiss him again, and again, and again until she lost her breath. She pushed him onto the blanket, making him lie on his back and sat down on his lap. Her wet pussy slid perfectly on his cock. Hermione sat on his thighs and took a moment to look at him. Despite his forty years, Severus Snape was a hardened man, with defined but slender muscles, ivory skin marked by too many scars and with a long and thick, fat cock, hot and perfect. That was the body of a brave man, not an ordinary boy. Hermione smiled, started to lower herself and bring her lips to his hard shaft, when Severus stopped her.</p><p>"No, not now, not this time. I want you, I want to be inside you, I want to come inside you" he said.</p><p>With that, he cast a contraceptive spell on her and his eyes found hers again. His was a silent prayer, Severus needed her as much as Hermione needed him. She smiled and nodded. Hermione leaned forward, her breasts brushing against his chest, while Severus stroked her hips, right up to her graceful and soft ass. The wet lips of her tight pussy opened on his big cock and the tip of it, already covered with pre-seminal fluid, touched her entrance.</p><p>"There is no way back from this" Severus whispered. Hermione didn't stop looking at him, not even for a moment.</p><p>"I have no intention of going back, I just want you" she replied, gave him one last kiss and then sank completely on him.</p><p>Gods, Hermione heard the mermaids sing, Severus heard the fire explode inside him. Every second was pure ecstasy. She was tight, warm and soft, he was hard and thick and filled her completely, touching her most sensitive points, exquisitely stretching her. Hermione hid her face in the corner between his shoulder and neck, alternating moans of pleasure with wet kisses on his sensitive skin. Severus wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back as his legs pushed his cock into her, making her rub right on his crotch. He whispered her name with every breath. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. It had become for him the most beautiful sound in the world. She moaned, her pussy tightening around his cock, while the pace increased and increased, more and more.</p><p>"Yes, that's right, more, harder, more, please!" Hermione pleaded with him and, snarling like a beast in heat, Severus grabbed her hips firmly, put his heels on the ground and began to fuck her without restraint, with all the strength, all the power, all the energy he had in his legs and in his arms.</p><p>She was so wet that her liquids dripped down on him, on his swollen balls, on his outstretched thighs. Hermione arched her back and raised her face. Severus felt her pussy throbbing around his cock, her moans choking in her throat and her forehead frowning in an expression that concentrated in it all the pure lust of that moment, of that powerful orgasm.</p><p>"Severus, I'm coming, oh gods! Yes!" she cryed of pleasure.</p><p>"Fuck, me too!" he snarled.</p><p>He came, came filling her up to the last drop of his rich sperm, letting her milk his cock and greedily filled her with all his hot cum. They both listened, for a few minutes, to their breathless breaths, without moving. Hermione rested her head on Severus' chest and listened to his heart beat.</p><p>Hermione didn't know how long had passed. The sun was still high in the sky, but a cool breeze came from the ocean. Severus had never stopped caressing her, but she was continually afraid that this moment might come to an abrupt end. She was afraid it could never happen again.</p><p>"Severus, I love you" Hermione whispered. He stiffened. She thought she had ruined everything. "I don't pretend that you tell me the same now, I don't pretend that you can reciprocate my feelings in such a short time... But I'm pretty sure I fell in love with you and it's right that you know it before this can happen again. And I hope it will happen. It was..."</p><p>"Sublime" he replied. Severus raised his head on the pillow, Hermione lay down beside him, not yet ready to separate from his warm body. He looked her in the eyes and it was amazing. "Hermione, I'm desperately in love with you."</p><p>"But... How... Lily?"</p><p>Severus shook his head. "Tsk, Lily. Lily chewed me up and spat me out. I wasn't a good man, and I'm aware of it. Maybe I should have paid a higher price for my crimes. No, let me finish. I know what I have done, but I have spent the last twenty years of my life atoning for the guilt of an insult. All this... All this because of a simple, stupid, disgusting word."</p><p>"She should have forgiven you, as we all have forgiven you."</p><p>"I don't know, maybe yes, maybe it's right that it went like this. I just know that, that obsession, the weight of that guilt that I carried with me for two decades, cannot be called love. No, I never shared anything with Lily. She has remained a ghost in my memories for too long. But this... You. You Hermione, you are the most extraordinary thing that has ever happened to me. You are a wonderful witch."<br/>No other words were needed.</p><p>That same evening, after making love again on the sofa, facing the fireplace, Severus was lying on top of her, his face resting between her breasts. They breathed slowly, savoring the moment.</p><p>"I'm going back to Hogwarts on September 1st" Hermione said, Severus said nothing.<br/>"Until I finish my studies I don't think it's wise... I mean, you will be my potions professor."</p><p>Severus laughed slightly. "No Hermione, I won't be, I'm not going to come back."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because if I were a professor at Hogwarts that school would no longer have a single student, silly girl."</p><p>Hermione smiled, but it was a bitter smile.<br/>"It's so unfair... Besides, Slughorn is a very bad teacher. Last year with him I took an A as evaluation, me, Hermione Jean Granger! It won't be the same without you anymore..."</p><p>Severus smiled.<br/>"Life is not fair, sweetie. However, at the moment, I am quite satisfied with my personal condition" he replied, kissing her breast before starting to speak again. "I think I will stay here, I will travel from time to time to continue my researches, I will write a book about them and then..."<br/>He didn't need to finish the sentence, Hermione cut him off.</p><p>"Accompany me to King's Cross on the September 1st. And also to Diagon Alley, to take the books. Let's meet in Hogsmeade at the weekend, let's go together to meet Harry at Grimmaud Place... I want to be with you."</p><p>Severus knew the consequences: to face the world again, the prejudices, the acid comments of the people. He didn't care, no longer. He didn't give a damn about being a war hero or a Death Eater, he wasn't interested in being the half-blood prince, or being poor Snivellus. The only thing that was important was their happiness.</p><p>"Rita Skeeter will have a lot of shit to write" Severus laughed.</p><p>"I can't wait to read it" she replied.</p><p>"What will you tell them when they will ask you why? Why me?" he whispered.</p><p>Hermione smiled. "I'll tell them what you said to me. I'll tell them that you are my new purpose."</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
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    <p>If you liked this story, consider reading my other works, on my profile.<br/>Every kudos and every comment are welcome and appreciated. Obviously I make absolutely nothing from this, I don't own any copyrights either on the characters or on the shared images.<br/><strong>Find me on Tumblr: <a href="https://dionysus-lover-ao3.tumblr.com/">Dionysus Lover</a> for multifandom blog, headcanons and aestethics.</strong><br/>A kiss to everyone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Hope you liked. Leave me kudos and comments and I will love you with all my heart. Take care❤️</p></blockquote></div></div>
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